Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: 8 Best Pickups to Cover Bye Weeks

The waiver wire is where championships are won and with crucial bye weeks for your superstars coming up you need somebody serviceable to back them up.

This list will give you 10 pickups to help your team survive bye weeks. 

The baseline used for whether the player is a waiver wire pickup is if they are available in 50% or less of leagues.

1. Early Doucet: WR Arizona Cardinals

Early Doucet was targeted a whopping 16 times in last weeks game against Minnesota. With double coverage against Larry Fitzgerald thoughout most of the game, favorable situations are created for Doucet. 

He has about 200 yards receiving in three weeks and hasn't scored a touchdown, but expect that streak to end soon. He has a bye this week but looking towards Week 7 and 8 he can provide a serviceable amount of points to keep your chances at victory alive.

2. Denarius Moore: WR Oakland Raiders

Although he was held without a catch in Week 5, Denarius Moore has had three touchdowns in four games and he will continue to produce, as Jason Campbell is having a good season. 

Moore will face the Browns and Kansas City in the next two weeks and should have a field day against those teams. He will easily score a pair of touchdowns and get a fair amount of receiving yards. 

He is a well rounded WR2 or WR1 if you are facing the injury bug from the large amount of WR injuries or busts this year. 

3. Andy Dalton: QB Cincinnati Bengals

Andy Dalton continues to improve game by game, as he he finds his rhythm with rookie receiver A.J. Green and his other targets. Probably the most surprising 3-2 team in the NFL.

He has a 2:1 TD-Int ratio and that will only get bigger in the touchdown department as he works out the rookie kinks.  

The Bengals next few games are against Indianapolis and Seattle—two teams that don't have the strongest defenses. If Dalton can thrive against them he is a solid replacement in two quarterback leagues and a backup in 12 team, one quarterback leagues. 

4. Alex Smith: QB San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers offense and Alex Smith are having the best season since Alex Smith joined the 49ers franchise. He is only picked up in about seven percent of NFL.com leagues and has scored a decent amount of points.

He faces a tough Lion's defense this week, which will be the true test. Since the 49ers offense is on all cylinders, expecting him to throw a couple touchdowns isn't out of the question. 

After the bye week they play Cleveland which should be a good week for Smith.

5. Ryan Torain: RB Washington Redskins

Ryan Torain is owned in 52 percent of leagues (close enough to 50 right?) and is a great pickup at the running back position. Tim Hightower is experiencing shoulder issues and didn't practice well the week before. Hightower's injury coupled with the monster 135 yard game from Torain should clue us in on the idea that Coach Mike Shanahan plans on using him as the starter. 

Hightower didn't practice on Wednesday and most likely won't today because of the ailing shoulder. Torain showed his worthiness and the Redskins are already coming off their bye week, meaning Torain is one of the best waiver pickups left on the market.  

Pick Torain up for more than just your players bye weeks.

6. Buffalo Bills: Defense

A defense that is a Top Five fantasy defense and owned in less than a quarter of league's? Doesn't make much sense so pounce on the Bills defense to cover your team's bye week and potentially start the rest of the year.

Proving they are a contender in the AFC East, the Bills defense will be giving teams trouble all year. They are a great pickup to cover the bye week for your defense and possibly a replacement. 

They play the New York Giants this week and will be creating turnovers on a weekly basis—as we saw in their 4 INT performance against Philadelphia. 

7. Jason Hanson: K Detroit Lions

The number one kicker in fantasy Jason Hanson and only owned in 70 percent of leagues (I cheated again)? If he's available in your league please grab him because the Lions are a good team this year and will continue to score a lot of points. 

On a personal note, Hanson has literally been the savior of my team as the second highest scoring player and he could have the same effect for you. If you drafted Jamaal Charles, Andre Johnson, or Kenny Britt, you could see some serious point reduction in the replacements you had to pickup.

Hanson has and will make up for those points lost. If you can pick him up do so as soon as possible because his output is going to stay high the whole season, and he has shown he still has the leg to boot 50+ yard field goals for the big points.

8. Tim Tebow: QB Denver Broncos

Whether you like him or not, Tebow is a pretty decent fantasy quarterback. After only playing a portion of the game last week he scored almost 17 points. Quite a performance. 

He has been named the starting quarterback, and if he performs even averagely will continue to do so for the rest of the season. 

He will score in the redzone somehow, whether he's throwing a touchdown or taking one in on his own. Tebow has the tools necessary to be a great pickup during your quarterback's bye weeks. Expecting him to give you a decent amount of points isn't a tough proposition and Tebow will not dissappoint.

So even if you hate Tebow, don't hate his fantasy gifts and pick him up for your quarterback's bye week.